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A painter who slipped and twisted his ankle while working at the LNG project in Kitimat has been awarded $2,000 after suspicious managers ordered him to have a drug and alcohol test.

According to an April 10 BC Labour Arbitration decision, Matthew Seward was working as a painter for Altrad Services at the Kitimat LNG site when he rolled his ankle walking on a gravel path on the way to work.

"Embarrassed at his awkward fall, (Seward) took a few minutes to compose himself before heading to the breakroom," the decision read.

He then reported his injury and was taken to an on-site safety trailer.

When asked why he fell, he said it was a hot day, he was wearing heavy coveralls on a loose gravel path and his ankles were "worn down" from years of snowboarding, soccer, skateboarding and sports injuries.

However, health and safety manager Chris Peters said the explanation "didn't make sense" and "didn't jive" because hundreds of workers safely used the walkway where Seward fell.

Peters wanted further investigation and a urine test to see if Seward was impaired.

As Peters didn't have the authority to make Seward take a urine test he turned to a manager that did.

However, the superintendent refused to order a urine sample saying that Seward was a good worker and there were insufficient grounds to order a test.

The issue was then taken to project manager Benoit Hueber who thought the explanation for the fall was "dubious to say the least" and signed off on the urine test.

Seward then took the test which came back negative.

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His union the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 138 then went to bat for him.

The Union argued management had "improperly and unreasonably" forced Seward to take the urine test.

"The incident was a normal, uneventful occurrence, a brief stumble while walking on loose gravel on uneven ground. As such, there was no basis to request a drug test following this event," the Union argued.

"(Seward's) right to privacy was violated, resulting in injury to his person and dignity," the Union said.

And the labour arbitrator agreed.

The Arbitrator was critical of the steps the company took in ordering the urine test.

"Notably, when questioned during cross-examination, Hueber was unequivocal that (Seward's) privacy interests played no part in his assessment. Indeed, Hueber appeared quite surprised at the notion of privacy rights being a factor at all," the Arbitrator said in the decision.

The Arbitrator said that Seward rolling his ankle wasn't "significant" enough to warrant drug testing and invading a worker’s privacy and bodily integrity.

"The Employer ignored the very real possibility that this was an accidental twisted ankle that occurs every day in all walks of life," the Arbitrator said.

The Arbitrator also criticized the company which devoted a workday for two full-time managers to investigate the fall, without "actually" visiting the area where it took place, or speaking to eyewitnesses who saw Seward fall.

Ultimately, the Arbitrator ruled that Altrad Services acted unreasonably and violated the painter's privacy and bodily integrity and ordered it to pay him $2,000 in damages.

The decision also said after the fall Seward had to take eight days off work which were fully paid for.

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